Eight editions, three cities, one day. India’s leading daily Hindustan Times on Friday embarked on an innovative strategy in line with the start of the third Indian Premier League (IPL), which saw eight editions of the newspaper donning a different look and featuring one of the teams.
Such an innovation, unheard of in the print industry, has been created by the newspaper along with IPL, O&M and Maxus. “As a media house known to support innovation, we are taking the lead in mass customisation by adding fervour to the IPL excitement,” said Shantanu Bhanja, vice president, marketing, HT Media Ltd, the company that owns Hindustan Times.
There was “overwhelming response from readers”, he said, as eight different versions of the newspaper were printed overnight in Mumbai, Delhi and Chandigarh. The different versions features captains of the eight teams —Mumbai Indians, Delhi Daredevils, Royal Challengers, Deccan Chargers, Chennai Superkings, Kings XI Punjab, Rajasthan Royals and Kolkata Knight Riders.